


Some days balancing the budget for a new sofa is easier than balancing duty and self for a Sith

by GlytheSector



Category: Star Wars: The Old Republic
Genre: But seriously mostly friendship, Gen, Imperial ideas, Male-Female Friendship, Sith philosophy, hint of romance if you squint?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 06:36:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1734719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlytheSector/pseuds/GlytheSector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young Sith lord struggles with questions of duty, Sith philosophy and what to do about an uncomfortable sofa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some days balancing the budget for a new sofa is easier than balancing duty and self for a Sith

**Author's Note:**

> This story involves my Sith Warrior Nailani Kellos. No spoilers except for the Sith warrior crew and mentions of the Sith Inquisitor crew who are mentioned but do not appear. Sareel is my Sith inquisitor.

  She hadn’t realised how late it was until her datapad beeped to signify the change of date. Synced with Kaas city time it was rarely correct with all her travels. For once though the Fury rested above the Imperial capital, cocooned safely within the orbital station. Nailani stretched out on the sofa she’d sat down on some hours before. From the twinge in her back perhaps Vette hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d joked about the sofa being a cleverly disguised Sith torture device and enquired if “her oh so generous lord sithyness” could acquisition a new one.

  Thinking of the irreverent Twi’lek Nailani vaguely recalled her passing by on her way to bed. She'd teasing fondly that if the sith read anymore she’d end up with disturbing bloodshot eyes like those indicative of heavy dark side use that other Sith had. Pierce hadn’t had the chance to visit Kaas in a long time with his Taris posting and had surprised her by asking for her permission to head down and visit some acquaintances. Apparently it wasn’t Ziost but would do for now in the Lieutenant’s opinion. Promising they would visit Ziost someday if her Darth Baras gave her the time she’d granted it. Their newest crew member had accompanied him. Broonmark's decision had probably been influenced by Vette’s dramatic and perhaps embellished tales of fighting off Gundarks, Sleens, Vine Cats and Yozusks in the dark jungles outside the city in the earlier days of their strange partnership.

  Jaesa had come with her to visit Sareel’s ship earlier and had respectfully asked to stay longer. She'd been keen to talk more with her fellow ex-Jedi padawn the Togruta Ashara, who had by all accounts claimed the Sith lord as her master as much as Sareel had claimed them her apprentice. The two apprentices seemed to get on exceptionally well and Jaesa had promised to be back in time for her morning lessons, possibly with Ashara who was eager to test her dual-wielding duelling talents against those of a full Sith lord. That left only one crew member unaccounted for. Nailani prided herself on her mental and emotional discipline, but the thought of checking up on the Captain as she should made her feel unaccountably uncomfortable and she briefly considered simply heading to bed. The decision was rather sharply removed from her hands as the lights flickered on stinging her eyes. Her low-light vision was significantly better than that of the human standing in the medbay's doorway and it took a moment of painful blinking to adjust enough to see the fleeting look of surprise cross his face before it returned to his usual neutrality.

“My apologies my lord, I was not aware you were still working. It was not my intention to disturb you.” An edge of roughness in his voice was all that betrayed Quinn’s tired state, that and the slight darkening of the permanent edge of stubble that grew on his face. Skipping past her momentary bemusement at the strangeness of human facial hair Nailani waved her hand in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture.

“It’s no trouble Quinn, I’ll admit I lost track of time.” She stretched, allowing herself the liberty of a yawn before continuing, “Besides this isn’t work, I’ve simply been engrossed in some articles.”

The captain nodded in understanding before politely enquiring “Ones of a historical nature I presume? I thought your usual papers and datajournals for the month were not due to be published for another four days?”

Nailani couldn’t stop the brief smile from breaking through, she knew the Captain was a meticulous man who always paid attention to details. But for someone who had been for lack of a better word lonely for so much of her life the new found familiarity and companionship she shared with him, Vette, Jaesa and perhaps someday Pierce never ceased to warm her if she allowed it. Sometimes even when she didn’t. Quinn himself was not a lover of history for its own sake as she was, but they’d shared numerous enjoyable discussions revolving around military history and the applications of historical lessons in modern strategy.

“You are correct about the historical part, these papers are archaeological reports from the Imperial reclamation service. Much of their contents were the contributions of Lord Sareel’s new crewmember in fact.”

“Ah.” Quinn nodded approvingly. “I heard Vette and yourself discussing this new crew member earlier, but I wasn’t aware that they were formerly affiliated with Reclamation services. May I ask their name?”

“Lieutenant Tallos Drellik, although technically I’m not entirely certain the man holds a rank currently, he resigned the service to join Lord Sareel’s crew and I rather doubt she has filed the proper paper work to register that he is currently on commission to her.” Frowning as she realised this Nailani made a mental note to persuade Sareel to sort such matters out swiftly.

“I know the name actually, a proud military family. I do hope he doesn’t find her lordship’s ship to be….” He paused, Nailani suspected from the look of slight distaste on his face he was wrestling with his long established respect for the Sith, his dislike of daring to criticise them and his personal lack of respect for the capricious young Sith in question and the chaotic manner in which she ran her ship. “Well her lordship’s crew so far is not exactly conventional, I do have to wonder how such a change will go for one used to military life. Reclamation service types do have a tendency to be somewhat unorthodox compared to those of us in the main branch of the military but still.” He perched on the edge of the sofa as he spoke, his back stiff with tension that made her own ache watching him. Vaguely impressed that he’d come so close to criticising Sareel and pleased he’d said so to her face she grinned as she replied.

“You mean like the “unorthodox” ways of Special Forces perhaps Captain?” Expecting him to tense up further at her gentle teasing she was surprised when he ducked his head and ruefully replied with a slight smile.

“Exactly so my lord, though their unorthodox behaviour tends to be more about the typical academic personalities present rather than the difference in methodology and perhaps attitude that certain black ops members display”

“Hm, well you might be surprised at how well Lieutenant Drellik is fitting in on the ship. He seems to have somehow achieved Lord Sareel’s approval at least. And he is an excellent archaeologist if these papers are anything to go by, but I can’t help but find him decidedly odd.”

“Odd my lord?” Quinn’s browhairs, _eyebrows_ she internally corrected herself raised slightly at her declaration. Cursing her lack of experience with human terminology she felt suddenly glad her skin was too red for most humanoids to detect her blushes. Something to be thankful for from the Pureblood side of the family at least. Rubbing the horns at the back of her head she tried to gather her thoughts into an orderly manner.

“Well he is decidedly….Enthusiastic shall we say?” Watching Quinn’s eyebrows raise even higher in a manner she hadn’t seen since Vette had decided to introduce Jaesa to the combination of “slumber parties” cheating at Sabaac and alcohol, she hurried to explain. “Not that enthusiasm is a bad thing of course. It is an admirable trait in any imperial officer or Sith. It’s the nature of the man’s enthusiasm that feels different.” She stopped as she wondered whether what she wanted to say next would be sharing too much. Of all her crewmembers, or perhaps she could even call them friends? Quinn would understand the sentiment best she felt.

“He is enthusiastic, that is the right word for it. But he isn’t so much enthusiastic about his work for the sake of accomplishing his duty, it is the work itself that he loves. I suppose, seeing someone so unabashedly do the things they do because they want to not because they should, feels strangely foreign to me.” Looking away she struggled to resist the urge to fidget with her hands. Sith didn’t fidget dammit no matter how exposed or oddly vulnerable they felt. She’d never excelled at the art of deception like her master but talking so openly scared her. Fear was a thing to be faced, to be harnessed and used however so she turned back to Quinn who was looking at her with an expression of understanding that almost made him seem as open as she felt, at least for a moment.

Clearing his throat, his expression resolved back to its normal shape before revealing the slight frown that she knew well meant he was thinking hard. Before she could give him permission to speak his mind he beat her to it.

“If you’ll forgive the presumption my lord, but don’t Sith usually do what they want? Not that they don’t act out of duty to the Empire I mean.” He clarified swiftly. “it’s just that as I understood it their freedom is a matter of extreme importance to Sith.” He looked at her quizzically, a breath of fear exhaling through the force at his daring to speak on matters above his station.

As she was surprised by the wave of tiredness that crashed over her Nailani stood abruptly and began to pace before the couch. “Some Sith do I suppose.” Urging herself to keep her tone even she stopped her pacing. “But I don’t. At least I don’t think I do.” Turning to meet Quinn’s intent expression she continued.

“Perhaps that is one of my weaknesses as a Sith.” Such an admission should never have been made. Not to Quinn, to any of her crew not to any other Sith not to anyone. Admitting weakness was death to a Sith she knew that.

“My lord.” Quinn’s tone was hesitant as he sought to understand. “I’m not entirely certain of your meaning.” He’d become so absorbed in the conversation and perhaps tired by the late hour he seemed to have forgotten his military posture for once, leaning forwards and resting his hands on his knees.

“Emotion is power to a Sith. We do not shirk from our feelings like Jedi, we use them, we allow them free reign and through them we gain might. “Through passion I gain strength”” She quoted. “Through strength I gain victory.”

“My lord i know admittedly little about Sith philosophy but surely the victories you have achieved for the Empire speak for themselves? I have encountered few Sith have had such an effect and such a degree of competence at such a young age. Your successes are numerous and while I may not always have agreed with your decisions I respect their results.” Such praise warmed her but couldn’t stop the sudden surge of doubts.

“And I appreciate your input on my decisions Captain, I always have. I suppose it’s my decision making itself where the problem lies. Sith are supposed to revel in their emotions. Not manage them. I have always felt that logic and measured reason are important to decision making, but do I hamper myself? By controlling my emotions and letting cool logic decide am I stunting my growth as a Sith? Am I denying myself power? I believe in the value of my current ways, but would the effectiveness in how I operate that I would lose by allowing emotions free reign be more than made up for by sheer strength and power? And by keeping to control as I prefer so much am I not only denying myself but the empire of my potential?” Her breathing slowed as the explosion came to an end. Seeing Quinn’s stunned face she felt ashamed for her brief lapse in control. Followed by a spike of anger that given the conversation topic such a brief loss was capable of distressing her so. She doubted Quinn had any answers for the questions she'd just posed, after much personal contemplation she herself hadn't been able to come up with any. She knew the theoretical ones of course but in the days since she first left the academy she'd found the "correct" and traditional answers rarely satisfied her anymore.

The silence that followed was more comfortable than she’d expected it to be as Quinn considered how best to respond. Walking over to the kitchen unit she grabbed a protein bar, checking it quickly for species guidelines. Finding it suitable she turned to the pitiful supply of alcoholic drinks and after considering the day ahead judged alcohol acceptable under the circumstances.

“Your usual Quinn?” She asked, surprised when his only response was a distracted nod. Clearly he was still deep in thought. Bringing the drinks and her unappetising snack back over he accepted his with a murmured thanks. The room was quiet minus the hum of the engines, the sound of quiet sips, the crinkling of her ration bars packaging and a clanking in the distance she suspected was Toovee fussing around the cargo hold. Frankly she had little interest in the droid's personal war against Broonmarks encroaching fur he left everywhere. Best to leave the droid to it she decided.

With a slight sigh he carefully placed his glass down on the table. Stretching slightly he turned to her. “As I said before, I am no expert on matters of Sith philosophy. I’m afraid I cannot offer educated input on this matter as I suspect I lack much of the context as a non-force sensitive.” Looking back at the table Quinn appeared to be contemplating his now empty glass as he proceeded. “But I can say this: I believe that however you decide your choices, you prioritise what you believe is best for the Empire. Regardless of the intricacies of Sith ways of thinking I know I can only approve of this and admire it. As I admire you.” Nailani had seen the captains strangely pale skin flush with blood in a number of ways, with anger or frustration when speaking of Moff Broysc, with perspiration on the sands of Tatooine. Embarrassment when he felt he had failed to meet his high standards. And sometimes in situations like now when he seemed to find himself suddenly without his usual shield of reserve. Not wanting to make him feel more uncomfortable she decided to bring the conversation to a close. Standing she offered him a hand up, which he took after a moment of looking at her with an unreadable expression, his skin slowly returning to normal.

“I know it must be a meagre comfort” he began before she shook her head, smiling slightly.

“It’s not” Horrifyingly her voice seemed to crack with emotion for a moment. “Thankyou.” She added clasping his hand as she projected all the gratitude and sincerity she felt towards him.

“You are most welcome my lord.” Retreating back into formality the captain released her hand, which he had apparently still been holding to rub his back. Relieved to have the excuse to lighten the atmosphere she nodded towards his back.

“Sore back?” She enquired. From the look on his face her relief was shared.

“Indeed my lord, not that my lack of comfort is a matter of import, I’m more concerned with efficiency. Which reminds me, there was a new scanner I was meaning to ask if I may requisition for the medbay. It’s not a standard piece of equipment but given the latest addition to the crew non-standard seems most appropriate. It would also produce more accurate results for yourself and Vette.”

“Done” she nodded. “Give me the form tomorrow and I’ll sign it, I want my crew in the best shape possible for whatever my master has planned next. In that vein of thought, if you see Vette tell her I’m ordering a new lounge set, at this rate that dammed sofa will cause this ship more pain than an enclave full of Jedi.”

**Author's Note:**

> Any input, feedback or criticism is appreciated.  
> Nailani is light side In game but very duty driven as is evidenced here and does dark side thing when she feels they are necessary for the Empire. She's also a Zabrak with Pureblood Sith heritage in case that wasn't clear. She's biromantic and demisexual and does end up romantically involved with Quinn later in her story but that isn't particularly relevant here.  
> She's also usually more reserved than this but the issues discussed are ones that bother her greatly.


End file.
